AI-generated image
Guokui (crisp-crusted spiced flatbread)
锅盔 · Sichuan and Shaanxi griddle-and-oven flatbread with a flaky, five-spice layered inside
ChineseGuokui is the flatbread of Chengdu's street corners and of Shaanxi, where Qian County makes huge round ones. In Sichuan the bakers roll a layered dough with spiced oil, flatten it, brown it on a griddle and then finish it against the wall of a barrel oven so it puffs, then split it and stuff it with whatever the stall sells. This vegetarian version is a home-oven bread filled with spring onion and five-spice and baked crisp; split one and fill it with cold spicy potato shreds or smashed cucumber. The common mistake is rolling it too thick; at more than about 1 cm the middle stays bready and the crust never turns glass-crisp. Chef's tip: brown the bread hard on the griddle first, then bake it; the oven dries and puffs the layers so they shatter.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the dough
- 14 oz plain flour
- ⅛ oz instant yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup warm water
For the spiced oil paste
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- ½ tsp ground Sichuan pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 spring onionsfinely chopped
To finish
- ½ oz buttermelted, or more oil for a dairy-free bread
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (2)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix 14 oz plain flour, ⅛ oz instant yeast and ½ tsp salt, add 1 cup warm water and knead for 8 minutes into a soft, smooth dough. Cover and rest for 45 minutes, until risen by about half.
Step 2: Meanwhile heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a small pan until shimmering, pour it over 2 tbsp plain flour, 1 tsp five-spice powder, ½ tsp ground Sichuan pepper and 1 tsp salt in a heatproof bowl and stir into a runny paste. Leave to cool.
3 minStep 3: Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll one into a long strip about 40 × 10 cm, spread with a sixth of the paste and scatter with 4 spring onions.
Step 4: Roll the strip up from one short end like a swiss roll, stand it on end and press down into a disc. Rest 5 minutes, then roll out to a round 12–14 cm across and no thicker than 1 cm. Brush with ½ oz butter and sprinkle with 1 tbsp white sesame seeds. Repeat with the rest.
Step 5: Heat the oven to 425°F (400°F fan). Heat a dry heavy frying pan over a medium heat and cook the breads two at a time for 3 minutes a side, until browned in spots and set.
12 minStep 6: Move the breads to a baking tray and bake for 10–12 minutes, until puffed, deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped.
12 minStep 7: Cool for a few minutes on a rack so the crust crisps. Eat warm as they are, or slit one side open with a knife and stuff with your favourite cold vegetable salad.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does guokui (crisp-crusted spiced flatbread) take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 70 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
ChipaCheese bread rings
In Paraguay you hear 'chipa, chipa!' called by vendors with big baskets on buses and street corners, and every family bakes it for Holy Week, when chipa is the food of Good Friday. Cassava starch, a little cornmeal, butter, eggs and a lot of hard cheese are kneaded into a dough scented with aniseed, shaped into rings or small rolls and baked in a hot oven, traditionally a domed clay tatakua. It's chewy, crisp outside and best warm with cocido (toasted yerba tea). Chef's tip: the dough should feel soft and slightly greasy; add milk a spoon at a time, as too much makes the chipa spread flat.
Paraguayan
SalufPuffy flatbread
Saluf is the everyday bread of Yemenite Israelis, slapped onto a hot pan or taboon in Rosh HaAyin and Sha'arayim in Rehovot and eaten with marak temani, hilbe and zhug. It is soft and blistered, thicker than pita and with no pocket, made to tear and dunk. Home cooks often roll it too thin, which gives a cracker; it should be about 1 cm thick so it stays pillowy. Chef's tip: cook it under a lid on a very hot dry pan for the first minute, which traps steam and puffs it the way a taboon does.
Israeli
Akki rottiRice flour flatbread
Akki rotti is the breakfast of Bengaluru and the old Mysore country: rice flour mixed with grated vegetables, dill, coconut and green chilli, patted out thin by hand straight onto a cold pan, then cooked until speckled and crisp at the edges. Every home has its own mix; dill (sabbasige soppu) is the classic flavour, but cucumber, carrot or fenugreek all turn up. It is eaten hot off the pan with coconut chutney or a dab of ghee and spicy chutney powder, and it is naturally gluten-free. Chef's tip: work with two pans in turn, patting the next rotti onto a cooled pan while the first one cooks; patting onto a hot pan burns your fingers and gives an uneven rotti.
Indian